Three places that have come to embody social justice movements in America.

Three places that rolled off the tongue of President Barack Obama as he addressed the nation Monday after his ceremonial oath of office. And with their mention, Obama made a monumental statement.

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths– that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth."

Obama equated watershed moments of women's rights and African-American rights to gay rights. No other president has even mentioned gay rights in an inaugural speech, let alone mentioned it alongside other movements that forged a more equal America.

Seneca Falls, New York, was where the first women's rights convention was held in in 1848, giving rise to what Elizabeth Cady Stanton called the "greatest rebellion the world has ever seen." It led to political rights for women, including the right to vote.

In Selma, Alabama, state troopers fired on civil rights marchers in 1965 leading to the Selma to Montgomery march that was considered a pinnacle of that movement and solidified support for passage of the Voting Rights Act.

“We were honored that the president included Stonewall among the historic events in American history that have made our union stronger," said Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.

"Its inclusion is testament to the valiant contributions of LGBT Americans past and present who seek nothing more than to be treated equally by the country they love," Griffin said.

Last May, Obama became the first president to endorse same-sex marriage.

Monday, he went on to say: "Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."

soundoff(205 Responses)

Gay equality is extremely important, especially if our country's citizens intend to continue to advocate liberty and justice for all, rather than for some.
The concept of orientation as "a choice" is absurd. Most gay people whom I know say that they knew their orientation when they were very young. I certainly understood, at the age of five, my fascination with a schoolgirl's pigtails. I asked her that day to marry me; she said yes, but we didn't.
It's good to see some fine gay writers here, such as @ jeffision.
For the one who called me a RINO: I'm probably much more a product and beneficiary of Ayn Rand's type of thinking than you are.
When I think of Lincoln, I think of slavery. When future generations think of Obama, one issue that they will remember is the oppression of gays.

Marion is 30 miles from Selma. The incident in Marion took place 2 1/2 weeks before Bloody Sunday – different incident entirely, although it played a part in leading to the march to Montgomery.. Selma gets credit for Rosa Parks – actually Montgomery and dogs /fire hoses – Bull Conner in Birmingham. That was a tough time for all involved, but we get tired of people changing the facts to make it any worse than it was. The demonstrators in Selma weren't fired upon. Yes, things got out of hand with tear gas and billy clubs, but no bullet wounds.

Thanks for the additional comments about the march. My point was that the authors never said that there were bullets fired during the Selma to Montgomery march, which is the focus of your reply. They indicated that the shots happened before the march and were important in "leading to the Selma to Montgomery march", which you also stated in your reply. So the mistake wasn't in their description of the march itself. It was incorrectly stating (sloppy writing/fact-checking) that the shots preceding the march happened in Selma rather than in Marion.

I felt The Presidents speech was very Inclusive yes he may have missed some groups within his speech, but the message overall was very positive. It's sad how this causes panic in some people. RIGHTS FOR ALL is a good thing NO? I pay taxes; I work hard as a Police Officer in NYC. I protect all races and all religions every day. I love helping and learning from others. I respect people as I want to be respected. My issue is with people on this site telling others how to live their private life. I'm GAY. I was born this way!!!!! Trust me I know it to be true. Let people love who they want to love. Prior to my State legalizing Marriage (Thank You Govoner Cuomo) I was not equal, for one reason who I LOVE? I could not have the same legal respect as straight couples have? As a country why can't become more respectful to others? more inclusive? Gay people have always been here and always will. Just respect people, our country has bigger issues than this.

We, the people, all deserve equal rights. Thank you Mr. President for being the first for including this in your speech. Now, let's work on repealing DOMA, so that families can enjoy equal benefits as well.

We lost the right to be fat (and not get taxed), Smoke, drink or do anything to our bodies that the Govt. does not like(and not get taxed again), choose what medical procedures or treatments we can have because of our religion (innoculations and contraception for all), we are forced to comply. we have to buy health insurance(it is not free unless you are on public assistance), even if we choose not to buy it (or we will b taxed again and again...) I can keep going , but you are too close minded to see it if you haven't already.

@blue falcon if you look at those as rights, look at it this way: You have not lost the right to smoke, you have lost your "right" to force others to share your smoke and to share in the cost of treating your cancer, you have not lost your right to go without health insurance, you have lost your "right" to force the rest of us to pick up the tab for your insurance, you have not had your religious freedoms curtailed in your place of worship, you have lost your "right" to force your religious views on others when you bring your religion into the public domain.

Take your anger elsewhere, Raven. The man was making a speech, not a littany. The three events he summoned to our consciousness STAND for ALL of the human rights abuses that our forefathers committed. Can you not see that? Must you rush to put an eloquent man down on his finest day, just so you can post your personal rant? Shameful. I respectfully suggest that YOU change, inasmuch as you have noted that "little has changed".

Last I checked, wounded knee wasn't about "first peoples" looking to assimilate or have anything to do with America so your bit about including all Americans doesn't make a lot of sense. I won't deny it was an attrocious war crime, but I will say that I completely fail to see your point. How would that event fit into the presidents speech which was about moments of progress. Wounded knee wasn't progressive for anybody.

The good news is God has revealed Himself to us through His Word. We can have all of Him we want. What you choose to do with Him is up to you, but writing memos and insisting He doesn't exist probably isn't the best choice.

Your "god" was invented by man fairly recently. One third of the world identifies as "not religious", and growing. You flatter yourself if you think we're all "insisting". The vast majority aren't insisting, we're ignoring such fairy tale nonsense.

The man is an utter hypocrite...taking the oath of office with not one but two bibles belonging to great men who believed what the good book says...whereas this man has done and will continue to do his level best to implement laws (advancement of abortion, redrfinition of marriage, attck on religious freedom etc.) and policies that run counter to the Judeo_Chrisitian founding principles of this once great nation. Well I guess we get the leaders we deserve.
May God have mercy on us for we are truly lost

You are correct. Jesus was, and is, about changing lives. There are two monumental travesties associated with these online debates about christianity. One, God is often judged by the actions of those claiming to love Him (and not all who claim to actually do). Two, there is a segment of society that has successfully claimed the argument's vocabulary and established any support of biblical standards as bigotry and hatred. God has not changed. His definition and view of sin is the same today as it has always been and will always be. Sadly, the human reaction to Him is also the same as it has always been. Some believe, some don't.

You know, back in the day, people in the United States used the Bible to justify slavery...and then segregation. And they said all the same things you're saying now – that the Bible is God's law and you can't change that. They were just as adamant that things couldn't change because that would go against the will of God. But you know what? Things change. God gives us the brain to see the error of our ways and to fix things. Just like he's doing that now. And you can scream and cry and hide all you want, just like those who said slavery was OK because the Bible said so, but things will change, the nation will get better, and we'll keep moving on.

Do these Judeo-Christian ideas include preaching family values while you are waiting for your mistress to call? Because there is ample evidence of that happening among "conservatives".

Do these Judeo-Christian ideas include raising millions of dollars to fight gay rights, when that same money could be feeding, clothing, and housing the poor. You know, those ideas that churches are ***supposed*** to be helping with.

Do these Judeo-Christian ideas including letting children get molested at the hands of people who claim they are working in the name of the lord, and their leaders do nothing but move them to another area, where they are free to continue the practice?

Seems to me that, before y'all go casting those stones, you should really spend time fixing your glass houses.

Everytime I read these message boards, I see a lot of pertinent points brought up that are then deflected with irrelevant negative remarks such how stupid the left/ right is, you should move, that's unAmerican, Fox News, etc, etc. If you want to get folks to listen to your ideas, you have to present them calmly and rationally without the childish remarks!

Take care of their children???? I guess you are unfamiliar with the term "Bleeding the Beast". It refers to the welfare payments received by the "unofficial" wives. Legally they are single unemployed mothers.

SB, I find your comments very interesting. They should be addressed. A single next of kin is very often not available. When a spouse dies, the next of kin are the children. Most families have more than one child, so your concern, while a valid one, still arises often, and the laws are there to deal with the issue.

I don't support polygamous or group marriages, but once the concept of re-defining marriage is up for discussion, it cannot be rationally limited to just 2 individuals. In fact, the assumed concept of a loving relationship need not be required either, at least not a romantic love. Why, then, should we not allow siblings (2 or more) to marry, or parent/child marriages? While we are at it, nothing stops the definition of marriage to be restricted to humans or even inanimate objects. Does this all sound silly? It does to me. But when we open the Pandora's box of redefining words, there had better be a rational basis for any "artificial" limitations we may put on that definition.

The government's interest in recognizing marriage relies in large part on the fact that marriage elevates a non-blood relative to the status of "next of kin", with all the legal rights that entails – decision making, inheritance, etc. In a polygamous marriage, the state's interests aren't served – who is the next of kin? What if multiple spouses disagree about a medical decision, or who inherits what? The two situations aren't the same. Call as many people as you want your "husband" or "wife", but that state needs a single next-of-kin.

If you believe that what happened at Stonewall was just that "patrons stood up to harassment in a police raid", you are seriously glossing over the whole thing. You seem to believe that Stonewall was nothing more than a group of like minded individuals sitting quietly, sipping wine and playing bridge. There was some crazy #-<%3) going on at Stonewall. Not to mention the place was run down, unsafe, unsanitary, and run by the mafia in violation of the law. The police were right to raid that place. I would suggest that before you chastise others for pointing out a blatent example of false equivilancy, that you should educate yourself.

Bob..I think you need to read up some more or maybe even experience harassment because someone just does not like you or your kind and thinks you are less than human..then maybe you would not be so judgmental in thinking that someone else’s suffering is insignificant.

I'm very sorry that the President made no mention of our Native American brothers and sisters struggles throughout American history and still today (relocation, genocide, broken treaties, poverty, etc.) as one of the major civil rights issues. They are the true founders of our land and should be recognized and honored.

The love may be equal, and that is not subject to any current laws that I know of. As for marriage, if that is what the President was getting at, that word has a definition, meaning the union of one man and one woman. Anyone in this country is free to marry– within this definition.

It was not long ago that that definition included the exclusion of biracial couples as well. However, as people become more educated, society becomes more informed and begins to turn away from ignorant "definitions." Like Seneca Falls and Selma, Stonewall was one of the places that people rose up against hate and outdated thinking once again to fight for true equality. Soon that equality will be well on it's way to actualization, much in the way racial and gender rights have advanced. One day, people of this country will look back with great embarassment and sadness at the ideals that people like you seem to hold. It's time for this country to grow. I suggest you educate yourself and learn to deal with the growing pains that are associated with equality. It's only a matter of time.

let's be liberal and inclusive, as long as it doesn't mean you have to be nice to Christians. We are just as American as you are, and freedom of religion does NOT mean freedom FROM religion.
If you are born a woman, guess what! You're a woman. If you are born a particular race, guess what! You are a part of that race. As for whether or not someone is "born gay" or not, consider the truism I was taught as a child: Just because a bird flies over your head, doesn't mean you have to let him build a nest in your hair. Thoughts. Tendencies. CHOICES. Born a woman? Enjoy it. Born a man? Enjoy it. Born black, white or whatever race? Enjoy it!

Some of the other posts are so disrespectful to each other. I do not mean any disrespect, and if I disagree with you, it doesn't make me a troll. But some things are worth standing up for. And this is one of them.

Roughly 3% of Americans, say 9 million or so proclaim they were born gay, myself included, yet somehow Alice, you know me better than myself? Sorry, but you're on the losing end of this argument. Period.

I don't see anyone not being nice to Christians – I am one myself, a LIBERAL CHRISTIAN, imagine that, & there are many of us. It is the far-right extremists who call themselves Christian but speak & act in completely non-Christian ways that draw the criticism. Unfortunately, the good Christians, whom I believe are the majority, have stood back & allowed the hypocrites to dominate. The sqeeky wheel gets the grease & in this case, the loud & obnoxious so-called Christians are the ones who get the attention. If you are truly loving, kind, tolerant of others with differences & generous like Christ, then take back your name & refute the bullies in your religion. I do every day.

Alice you need to be educated. People are not just male or female, the is a continuum of gender. Hopefully you have heard that humans are born everyday where their gender is in question due to physical characteristics on the OUTSIDE as well as on the inside. At the chromosome level there are many variations other than XX and XY. Knowing these facts, how can you continue to believe that brain chemistry is also not so black and white, as you put it. Sport organizations and doctors grapple with how or where to draw a line. Is it physical, internal, chromosomal? Why not let people decide for themselves!

hi, Alice. Grew up in the church. From the time I was about 7 until I went to college, I probably missed a handful of services. I'm well aware of what the Bible says. But I have to know... when did you decide that you liked guys? Did you make a pros and cons list? Did you wake up one day and say, "I think it's time for me to start liking boys?" Or... did you just see one and...wham, that was it. You felt it. You didn't decide... it just happened, right? Well, same thing for me. Trust me, I fought it. For over decade. Prayed to change until I cried over and over again. I'm much better now, thanks. Found a great church, great friends and life is... great. You know how you get angry when people say they know the Bible but they obviously don't? (not saying you don't, just using the example) Well, that's how I feel when people who think they know others say it's a choice.

"Only with "Benders Forward" that will support any and all his misguided policies and no matter what; will always kiss HIS royal butt. By the way I missed Oprah at the "Knighting". Did Moochelle ask that she be kept out. Just asking..."

Here's your answer: You are not fit to kiss this good man's butt. Sorry, there's one less bunch of people poor, pitiful you gets to feel BETTER THAN. Suck it up, try to get an education, and make some of yourself before your life is entirely wasted. ;-)

One day there will be equal rights. it won't be today or tomorrow. It takes a while. Speed bumps along the way. Same speed bumps that didn't allow women to vote. Or had separate facilities for white people and "colored" people as the signs used to say. Our nation traversed those speed bumps but are encountering new ones. We'll get past them also. It's inevitable. Except for those people who are the speed bumps. Same as it ever was.

That is so true as every HUGE progression in this country did not go without protest – there will always be those that want the status quo, or in some cases, want to go backwards as many Republican state lawmakers are trying to undo Roe vs. Wade by chipping away a woman's right to choose. The President is absolutely right when he stated that it is up to the people to make those changes, he can give us the confidence to move forward but we have to be the ones to do so. For all those that say giving gay people equal rights and marrying priveleges goes against God, you may want to try to look at it another way and, if you are so against it, try thanking God that you were not born that way. Anyone who knows someone that is gay realizes that they were born that way and it is against God's teachings to treat them like they are less than. I applaud President Obama for his courage to stand up for these fellow Americans.

This country is in so much trouble. The sad part is, just over 50% of the population can't see it. Or, worse, refuse to see it. Or, even worse, are all for it. This country can survive Obama, but I don't think it can' survive the "obama voter."

Education is the key to our nation's problems. Well educated citizens and new generation make better choices for themselves, their children and our country regardless of ideology. The country has changed, so have the other countries on earth. So let's face the truth and reality of this constantly evolving human race in this imperfect world. The bottom line is all people want the same thing – Happiness.

I'm sorry, but I'm stick at this point of the people who loudly insist that we're in trouble and "you call can't see it", and when asked for any sort of proof in the matter, scream even louder "That's what I mean! You just can't see it!"

Enlighten us. In detail. Please.

Unless of course this terror at what may lie beyond the fringe of human acceptance is but a figment in thine own head.

Some people have a Hitler fixation – so sad! We know you haters can't grasp the fact that this President is so well liked and admired, but I'm sure if it was a Republican (white) President and there were 800,000 people at their inauguration waving flags you would be in awe!! Get over it people, this is OUR President – the MAJORITY has spoken!

@Timr – sorry, but I have voted in every single election since 1980. I voted for the President because I agree with his policies, not because of his skin color...and believe me, after four years watching Mitt Romney misgovern my home state, you should be glad that I and 53% of the electorate did just that. Romney was a bad governor and would have been a worse President. The man has no morals, no principles, and no backbone.

@MysteriaKiito I'm sorry that you got an overdose but let me tell you that you are lucky to know about it at all. I suspect you are much younger than me but I never heard of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in school... or Sojourner Truth or so many others. Susan B. Anthony was a footnote. They simply didn't teach it. It was not until I was in my 30's that I went back to school at a community college and learned about these women and what they accomplished. I drove halfway across the country to visit Seneca Falls to walk in their footsteps. As a woman in America... we all walk in their footsteps. So much has changed in my lifetime that is based on what they started. Home towns are notoriously tedious for their pride in local history and I understand your boredom but wait a few years until you can step back and see it all in context. And besides... Seneca Falls is really kind of pretty for an eastern town.

I'm 29 and still think they should have touched base on more than women's rights. I live in another state now and feel like an idiot when talking with friends and anything involving history comes up because my knowledge is so limited. I'm a mother now and will not move back there unless I feel like they've expanded their teaching material. My 2nd grade son knows more now about history than I did when I was in 6th or 7th grade! As for it being lovely, you would think that since you never lived there. Living there is a whole different experience.

This is the essence of tolerance, and I suppose I should be happy with that. And I am. You are free to believe as you will, but I urge you to consider: Christ commanded us to love everyone. He didn't say love everyone but the gay person. Nor did he exempt anyone else. He said love *everyone*. Christ also accepted everyone in fellowship, including the most reviled people in the society at the time. So as you continue your journey in Christ and strive to live his teachings I encourage you to reconsider your position on fellowship. When faced with a decision that leads you to deny Christ's love to another, I believe Christ would urge you to choose again. And in that spirit I will do he same.

It's one thing to disapprove of gays and lesbians (Sorry, but I've never understood the notion of "lifestyle" in that context). That's fine. It's another thing to deny them the rights in our country that you yourself enjoy.

Absolutely, and you have to ask why is that? What provokes us to not get along? Maybe if we would all calm down, stop listening to the propaganda spun by Faux News, etc. stop making our religious and political beliefs divide us, and realize that ALL of us are only on this earth for a very short time, that we would cherish each other as fellow human beings instead of always trying a way to demonize. No one on this earth knows what the future holds, but if we would come together as one HUMAN race the possibilities would be endless. So sad that in 2013 this still is so far out of reach!

If you're going to attempt a diatribe against inclusion, liberalism, and equality, you might want to try and learn to spell first. Pretty much undermines everything you have to say which, not coincidentally, is fabricated, paranoid garbage.

jim, I think it is fair to say that many (probably most) of the people who voted for Mr. Obama (and the same goes for Mr. Romney, too) disagree with him on at least an issue or two. In every presidential election that I have voted in there were issues that I disagreed with regarding the candidate I voted for , and issues I agreed with regarding the one I didn't vote for. I suspect most people are like me in that regard.

They only came out to vote because he is black, they had no other agenda here. On several occassions a black person was asked what race they were most interested in and how they voted, the answer, the black race.

I think it depends on where you live. Black voters in the state of IL, support marriage equality 60%. Nationally, about 52% of black and Latino voters support marriage equality, according to exit polls reported by the Washington Post. Support was higher among African-American women than men, at 59% compared to 42%.

So, is it a sin if Non-Christians get married? Remember- their marriages are not based on the bible, but their own religious or social beliefs. Should those people be denied health insurance and other benefits because of their different beliefs?

Both your statements are untrue, Greek and Roman empires didn't collapse due to changes in morality, they collapsed due to invasions from outside forces made easier by their unwillingness to have fortified cities less the people they rule be able to keep the army out.

Gun murder is highest in most of the old south red states, and lower in most of the blue states, thought there are some exceptions to each rule, that would suggest gun violence is more complex then either side would have it seem.

So many comments on here reveal the fact that USA is condemned to continue its belief that :"us versus them" and "me versus you" is the way to move forward. Bnaries are dangerous and dismissive. Untenable and counter-productive. Find the links and connection points with those who you perceive as different. Your country will be so much better for your attempts.

Persecution and bigotry are actions and attitudes to be overcome. There is no time like the present to overcome the weaknesses that bring both of these about. Some hear speak of choice. The choice a couple makes to join each other to a civil union should be honored by the government which serves them. All those who are so joined should enjoy the same rights, such as the right to help with medical choices and the rights to survivor's benefits. These are legal rights. It was not so long ago that if a couple was purchasing property and the man died, the woman no longer had the right to own that property. It was not that long ago that a black person was not allowed to sit anywhere on a public transportation vehicle. The government is not in place to legislate morality and a groups moral beliefs must not direct government. I continue to be amazed at the hate directed at the President due to his color as is evidenced in some of these replies. Raised in rural North Carolina where blacks were relegated to "their part of town," I know I should not be surprised. But one day even the bigots here will be "free at last," freed from their hatred and freed from the pity of those of us who recognize it.

From the 30s through the late 60s in the South, men who were suspected of being gay (no proof required) were picked up by sheriff's deputies and taken to county prison, for life. No charges, no trial, no judges, no conviction. Just locked up and made to work. The last of them was released from a Georgia prison in the early 1980s. He had been picked up while walking down the street at age 18 and spent over 4 decades in prison.

Up until the mid 60s in much of the country, gay bars were raided routinely. Everyone in the bar would be arrested. The charge? Being in a gay bar. They would spend the night in jail. Their picture would be on the front page of the town's newspaper. When they went back to work the next morning, they would be fired, and usually blacklisted from their career. Then when they went home, if they rented, they'd discover that all the landlord had put everything they owned on the street for people to destroy or steal...kicked them out of their home. Homeless, jobless, no career. And family, friends wouldn't help because they would also be punished in some way due to "guilt by association" laws and customs.

Gay people in prisons were routinely subjected to medical experiments without their permission until the mid 60s.

Up until the mid 70s family members could commit a gay relative of any age to a mental institution without the gay person's permission, and the family members could give permission for the gay person to undergo electroshock therapy, lobotomy, and or castration. This was common.

A couple of decades ago nearly all states permitted gay people to be fired from their job for being gay, and to be denied housing because there were gay. These laws are still in effect in many states.

Up until a couple of decades ago, routinely, doctors refused to treat gay people.

Only very recently have some hospitals began allowing a gay person's partner to visit them in the hospital, even if they are dying. Until recently, a gay person's will could be legally contested and prevented by a family member...just because the deceased was gay.

During the Inquisition, hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian people were tortured and killed by burning, flaying, and extreme torture.

In WW2 Germany killed tens of thousands of gay people in gas chambers. They were singled out for the cruelest of medical experiments in the camps.

Since the 1920s in the U.S. hundreds of thousands of gay people have died by being beaten. The baseball bat has been a preferred weapon...a group of het men attacking a gay man that they had never met...killing him just because he was gay. Up until the mid 80s these murders were routinely not reported by newspapers. Even today, they are common and rarely reported.

Gay children and teens are bullied relentlessly, beaten, driven to suicide in high numbers. For decades they've been disowned, kicked out of the house, abandoned in great numbers by their parents.

In the United States, most gay people aren't allowed to marry the person of their choice. It's been common for the courts to take children from their gay parents.

Those that say that the gay civil rights movement doesn't compare to African-American people's fight for civil rights are very sadly mistaken.

Brilliant post, jeffision. Thank you for thinking these events through and presenting them quietly and securely. I am very proud of my President.

The naysayers on board here remind me very clearly of several of my nephews who never chose education, who banged their heads on rock and drugs until they are nothing but angry, and are the most vociferous at the holiday table, stating their ill-formed opinions to the regret of the even-tempered members of the family. We would all do well to continue to speak our truth quietly and clearly, and avoid the rude and ignorant who keep spouting their mess.

hmmm….I don't think being white/black/male/female is a personal choice.

Selecting a sexual partner or whether to undergo a radical sex change operation is very much a choice…

they are different….and any attempt to associate LGBT rights with civil rights is flat out wrong and grossly disrespectful to all those who have suffered prejudice – simply over something over something they have no control.

And this is someone who could care less if you are gay/lesbian/etc… I just have a problem with the LGBT zealots out there who default to calling someone a homophobe or a bigot simply because they believe in traditional marriage or point out that being LGBT is a CHOICE. If the constituency choose to say that gay marriage is legal in their state then that is fine by me; however to insinuate that gay peoples' rights are abridged by states who do not support gay marriage – you are flat out wrong!

...it's not a "traditional marriage" issue or a "gay" issue...it's about CIVIL RIGHTS...in the U.S.A., the Constitution guarantees each citizen unalienable rights...separate but equal doesn't work in this country...for too long, many minorities in the US have been marginalised by a so-called "majority" who decided who got to exercise their Constitutional rights and who didn't...this is the history of African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Women and Gays, just to name a few..."traditional marriage" isn't threatened by gay marriage and the sanctity of traditional marriage could use a boost: 50% of traditional marriages end in divorce...many of those traditional marriages produce kids that nobody wants...often, it's the gay couples who are adopting those kids and giving them loving homes and parenting...if you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person...BTW, why is it that all of those straight folks are giving birth to all of those gay folks?...just asking...

If sexual orientation is a choice, please describe the moment when you chose to be heterosexual. Also, can you now choose to be gay? Please tell us about how you wake up every day, and struggle with being gay or straight, but always choose to be straight.

Being LBGT is not a choice, acting like it is is what makes you a bigot.

Not wanting to disrupt traditional values was also the cry of those against abolishing slavery, allowing interracial marriage, allowing women the right to work and vote. Wanting to force "traditional" values on other is pretty much the definition of bigot.

Over 400 species on this planet exhibit LGBT behavior, only one exhibits bigotry. Guess who is the one making the choice?

Either you don't know any gay people or your heart is so full of hate you can't recognize it, but gay people ARE born gay. Yes, there are some that choose the lifestyle for the heck of it, but real gay people are born that way. To demonize them is no different than demonizing someone born with an extra chromosone. Please tell us, if God created all, why would he create disabled people, people of various colors, and, yes, gay people? Maybe he was trying to tell us something that we are ALL equal in his eyes and is testing us to see if we agree – so far many of us are failing if that is the case.

I hope "RayJacksonMS" comment was meant as a joke. There is no way that gay discrimination could have been worst that that of black people. If you are gay and you kept it for yourself, nobody knew, but the color of your skin you can not hide. In The USA, gay people was not enslaved as black people were. Gay people was not flogged, tortured, ripped away from their families or sold, or lynched just for being black. Gay people did not have to endure that. So, let's not be naive enough to equal both causes.

RayJ, you've got no sense/knowledge of the black history concerned; but I'll grant you this debate brings out a lot of ignorance on both sides. I'd recommend Thomas Schmidt's STRAIGHT & NARROW? (IVP, 1995).

Gays all over the world are murdered and imprisoned to this day. Hate crimes in America still exist. Even though gay people were not enslaved in America does not mean they have not suffered egregiously for hundreds of years. The march towards equality is the same, regardless of the specific condition.

To Ray and Caribbean, you are both somewhat right. Enslaving blacks was policy, killing gays is merely cultural. Either way, blacks and gays have been treated as good as dead. Happily, slavery as large-scale policy is gone, but un-happily the murder of people who are gay, or thought to be witches, or even simply albino, goes on to this day. Witches and albinos mostly in Africa and a few other backwaters, but gays, well, still all over the planet.

Does your idea of equality include equality for Christians, Jews, and others who keep on insisting that indulging homosexual desires is sin in God's eyes? What if that's what the charter myths of my soon-to-be-small-minority faith tell me is gospel truth?

NO,it does not! If you CHOOSE to BELIEVE the HATRED in the tenants of your so-called-RELIGION, that which dictates the PERSECUTION OF GAY PEOPLE but don't believe for one second we will sit back and take it!

From the 30s through the late 60s in the South, men who were suspected of being gay (no proof required) were picked up by sheriff's deputies and taken to county prison, for life. No charges, no trial, no judges, no conviction. Just locked up and made to work. The last of them was released from a Georgia prison in the early 1980s. He had been picked up while walking down the street at age 18 and spent over 4 decades in prison.

Up until the mid 60s in much of the country, gay bars were raided routinely. Everyone in the bar would be arrested. The charge? Being in a gay bar. They would spend the night in jail. Their picture would be on the front page of the town's newspaper. When they went back to work the next morning, they would be fired, and usually blacklisted from their career. Then when they went home, if they rented, they'd discover that all the landlord had put everything they owned on the street for people to destroy or steal...kicked them out of their home. Homeless, jobless, no career. And family, friends wouldn't help because they would also be punished in some way due to "guilt by association" laws and customs.

Up until the mid 70s family members could commit a gay relative of any age to a mental institution without the gay person's permission, and the family members could give permission for the gay person to undergo electroshock therapy, lobotomy, and or castration. This was common.

Up until a couple of decades ago, routinely, doctors refused to treat gay people. Only very recently have some hospitals began allowing a gay person's partner to visit them in the hospital, even if they are dying. Until recently, a gay person's will could be legally contested and prevented by a family member...just because the deceased was gay.

Since the 1920s in the U.S. hundreds of thousands of gay people have died by being beaten. The baseball bat has been a preferred weapon...a group of het men attacking a gay man that they had never met...killing him just because he was gay. Up until the mid 80s these murders were routinely not reported by newspapers. Even today, they are common and rarely reported.

****Caribbean Reader
I hope "RayJacksonMS" comment was meant as a joke. There is no way that gay discrimination could have been worst that that of black people. If you are gay and you kept it for yourself, nobody knew,****

But they sure did enough of it in their country to one another, and you seem to be forgetting or deliberately omitting Native Americans were here long before the White man or even the black man came along and gays and lesbians were accepted as two spirit people housing both the male and female spirits and held places of honor among the tribes as healers and spiritual leaders, that is until the white man came along and turned it into something filthy, dirty and disgusting. And your apparently omitting the atrocities done to the Name Americans by the white man and in some cases blacks.

No it is not about civil rights! It's about equale rights that we have been denied for more years than this. We derserve more consideration that this. 40 areas and a mule? That is not what we want. I want justice!

It was a great speech, well delivered, but having noted Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall, he missed one. There was no mention of Gallaudet (Deaf President Now!) ADAPT, or the disability rights movement that let to the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Dan So the fact that homosexuals can marry equates to changing the laws for the other relationships you are discussing? The logiccal extensions are not valid except for maybe polygamy. Good luck to those who can, but I could not handle a second wife.

You don't have to approve to homosexuality to believe they should have equal rights. Just like you may have disdain for a particular religion (or, in my case all religions) but still respect an individual's right to believe and worship as he beleives. Tolerance is the foundation of our rights. Indeed the one thing I can't stand and refuse to put up with is intolerance!!!

Who is this "we" you're talking about, sweetie? Face the fact, fully 80% of Americans wanted and GOT DADT revoked. There aren't enough anti-gays left to do anything but WHINE like you did here. The President spoke up for marriage equality today. 9 US States and the District of Columbia have marriage equality. The anti-gay agenda has been crushed.

Don't get comfortable. There is always a chance that an extremely Conservative government may be voted in someday, and the rights we've fought for will all be swept away. There are still a lot of scary, persuasive people out there. Look at the market share Fox News enjoys. For every rational person in this country there are two who think what Fox and its ranters promulgate is the gospel truth. And they vote. We can hope that female/black/gay equality is sustained, but we can never let down our guard.

@ Isolate is absolutely correct: if you get equal rights, guard them carefully as long as you live.
There are countless stupid, bigoted voters in the USA.
The ignorance that surrounds gay citizens in this country is almost unbelievable.

Exactly so. If we look back carefully through the history of the U.S. we see that in the 1850s through 1900 women and gays made great social advancement. Gay people were visible throughout society. Women were organizing and pushing for equal rights. Then came the 1930s when the christian rightists rose to ascendency again. Women were beaten down and gay people terrorized back into the closet. The Right will regroup and they will once again need to make someone smaller so that they can feel taller.

All I can do is applaud. I'm so sick and tired of having to sit back and be nice when the bigots start talking. People have the right to their religion, but your rights cease when they infringe on mine.

This is a second term agenda for a president who will not run again for office. Now he can show his true liberalism. This is something that always drives me crazy. I support the economical ideas of the democratic party but can not stomach their views on social issues. I'm glad that the republicans have control of the House. At least they will not be "ashamed" into accepting gay marriage as part of our federal laws. That is something that should be left to each state to decide. If you wanto to marry your gay partner and live in Texas, move to Maine. That is the American Way. What about marrying 2 or 3 wives or husbands? Should that be protected by federal law too? I insist. Let that issue be decided by each state, as it should. Feeling sorry is a pure excuse for public policy.

@Timodeus – States should not be bastions of ignorance and prejudice. Personally, I think it might be time to re-write the Constitution to incorporate the advances that America and humanity have made over the last 200+ years. And one item that should be considered is the diminishment of the ability of states to foster such conditions.

@ Caribbean Reader:
When activists were marching at Selma, African-Americans could have just moved from the Old South to northern states. However, nothing would have changed for them.
The GLBT community is not going to run away either, as you suggest that these free human beings should do.

The 14th Amendment says that every American citizen must be treated equally under the law– state law and federal law. That includes marriage law. It doesn't have any exceptions for people you think are icky or wish would move to some other state. ALL the state laws should be equal about this, and if at least five members of the Supreme Court have read the 14th Amendment, they will be. Some people didn't like civil rights and integration either, but get used to it, because all Americans are supposed to be equal before the laws.

Why should the federal law distinguish men from women? It's a genetic trait. Why should the government care? A person's right to marry any person that is freely able to consent to it should be respected. Also I don't know what you are going on about "protect" .. it's just a matter of things like ability to get visitation in hospital, some tax benefits in certain situations (most often not, since both more probably earn near the same amount). That's hardly "protection". Being able to exercise one's right to be visited by a loved one in hospital should not be considered given "protection" - not unless we are using it in the Mafia form. To infringe such a right is extortion.

States should not be bastions of ignorance and prejudice. Personally, I think it might be time to re-write the Constitution to incorporate the advances that America and humanity have made over the last 200+ years. And one item that should be considered is the diminishment of the ability of states to foster such conditions.

Elections do not change the Constitution. Just our leaders. Every person has a right to push for what they believe is correct. My point is that not every possible inequality has a constitutional solution or there is a constitutional right that mandates the federal goverment to create a remedy. If the people of Maine, Iowa or any other state believes that gay marriage is correct, so be it. The federal government should accept that. On the other hand, if a state does not approve gay marriage, it is up to the people of that state. That does not mean prosecution or abuse to gay people. That should not be permitted. As I have stated before, not every inequality has a remedy under our Constitution, nor there is a right to protect every desire of the heart. Our Constitution recognized slavery when it was written. Thankfully, it was later ammended to prohibit it. If the people wants to create a right for gay marriage under the US Constitution, they should push for an ammendment accordingly. They should not create a "right" where there is none. It is difficult, and it takes a lot of time, but if the people supports it, it should become the Law of the Land. Not by judicial "fiat".

you should be pushing for repeal of hte Defense of Marriage Act. That's the law that says the federal government can not recognize any marriage between two people of the same sex. It was pushed through when some states were looking like they were going to allow same sex marriage.

As long as the country was against marriage equality, the anti gay people were pushing to make it the law in all 50 states. Now that 9 states have it , with more to follow soon, it suddenly should be a states' rights issue.

When the Supreme Court ruled preventing interracial marriage was a violation of people'srights, over 3/4 of the country said they were wrong. The courts need to protect peop[le's rights, because the legislatures won't.

Just a matter of time until Texas legalizes marriage equality. 10 years from now it's going to be a purple state, and in 15 years it will be a blue state. They you can find a different state to live in. Or country...you might try Iran...you may feel very comfortable there.

I believe the "states rights" thing is what tears our country apart – how are we the UNITED States when, in reality we have 50 different countries with their own laws. People shouldn't have to move to another state within the SAME country to find laws that support their basic needs. If we truly are all AMERICANS living within the borders of this great country we should all have the same laws when it comes to issues of the human race. I realize that various demographics and cultures within the different states would require "local" laws, but when we are talking about social justice and what would improve society as a whole, then Federal laws should prevail.

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